Orthodox Jewish Man Beaten In Williamsburg In Latest Possible Hate Crime
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD is investigating another possible hate crime in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
There have been four attacks against the Orthodox Jewish community in a week -- the most recent came late Monday night.
As CBS2's Ilana Gold reported, a 65-year-old man was attacked around 11 p.m. across the street from his home near Wilson Street and Wythe Avenue.
A teenage boy and girl ran up to him from behind and started punching him in the face and laughing about it, investigators said.
On Tuesday afternoon, CBS2 saw the victim as he limped out of his apartment with cuts and bruises under his eye. He did not want to comment, but his neighbor spoke with CBS2 anonymously.
The neighbor said his son heard the victim screaming for help and then the son ran outside and helped stop the beating. The two young perpetrators fled, the neighbor said.
The neighbor said the victim was "all shocked, confused, as expected."
The incident follows another attack at 1 a.m. Monday, when a 25-year-old Orthodox Jewish man was struck in the head with a glass bottle on Driggs Avenue.
When asked how the attacks are affecting the community, Rabbi David Niederman of the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg told Gold: "Basically people start thinking, 'Can I allow my child to be out even during the day?' And even adults, at night it's scary."
Police have posted flyers across the neighborhood showing a picture of the lone suspect in the bottle attack and warning everyone to be on high alert.
"It's also a sign in reminding people that unfortunately you are not safe," Niederman said.
In another supposed hate crime in Williamsburg, surveillance cameras captured men flinching when someone shot off paintballs right above them at a Jewish grocery store. Five minutes later, a 62-year-old was hit with a yellow paintball a few blocks away.
People in the community say they'll be on edge until police catch whoever is responsible.
Police say Monday night's crime and the glass bottle attack are not linked. The paintball attacks are being investigated as separate incidents as well.
